


In Hot Pursuit

by tatchaa



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF!Tadashi, Drifting, Gen, Street Racing, but he's still a caring person underneath all that leather, speed chase
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 07:07:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2842382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatchaa/pseuds/tatchaa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Tadashi agrees to settle a score with a cool yet deadly yellow biker on who has the fastest bike around this part of San Fransokyo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Hot Pursuit

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gingeringfigs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingeringfigs/gifts).



> I absolutely love ofphenwa’s street racer AU! Mostly because of Tadashi, ‘cause badass!Tadashi is my favorite kind of Tadashi >∀0)σ
> 
> I hope you like my take on your AU, dearie! I feel like I should’ve bounced ideas off of you first, orz

Night time life in San Fransokyo, Tadashi mused, was like a two-faced mask. While in the heart of the city, time never slept. In contrast, the surrounding residences were dead to the world. The young teen sped through the empty streets in haste; the only sound was the comforting hum of his motorbike and the muffled roar of the wind. The streetlights blurred together in a calming yellow line instead of the usual red he was used to.

A few more blocks and he’ll arrive at the rendezvous point where he was supposed to meet the yellow sports biker. In retrospect, his first run-in with her was brief; the one after that was just plain awkward. Seven times of running into her later, she proposed a race. That surprised Tadashi; legal racers usually avoided the underground scene, less they wanted to deal with the charges and racing eligibility if they were ever caught. He knew she was at the top of her game…so why risk the chance?

Turning a corner, he then spotted her under a street lamp, chewing her gum and playing what looked like a game on her phone. The short haired girl was sitting on her yellow bike, which contrasted sharply with her dark attire, a trendy leather jacket and a pair of torn tight-fitted jeans. She looked up with a sour stare. “You’re late.”

Tadashi grinned apologetically. “Sorry, I had to wait till my family was asleep.”

“It’s past one.”

“One of them went to bed late?” he tried to pacify.

She rolled her eyes at the pitiful excuse. “I’ll think of a repayment after the race.”

“Already making wages?” Though Tadashi didn’t except an answer from the girl; one thing he learned from their past impromptu meetings was that she turned the cold shoulder at questions she deemed irrelevant. 

Their bikes stood side to side, lined up on the white line.

“The rule is simple: first one to cross the torii wins,” Tadashi explained, pointing at the illuminated red gate entrance in the distance. It was a small bright dot from their position, but even so, it was clearly just a straight shot ahead.

“What, no tricks or turns?”

Tadashi shrugged his shoulders, their eyes meeting briefly. “I thought we could play by your rules for a change.” _Either way, I’ll still win_.

The black haired girl’s fingers clenched over the handles until her knuckles felt uncomfortably tight in her leather gloves. That seemingly innocent answer was goading her, _mocking her_ – as if she was not up to the task. Her eyes narrowed at the unspoken challenge. Oh, it was _so_ on.

Tadashi grinned, lighting the spark to the flame. “Let’s make the race a bit more interesting.”

Blowing a bubble, she eyed him impassively and popped her gum. “I’m listening.”

“If I win, you tell me your name. If you win, I’ll tell you mine. Deal?” Tadashi knew he was laying it thick, and betting his name filled him with reservations, but despite that, he knew he’ll come out on top. He always did. That thought alone should have quelled the fluttering mess in his stomach, but it didn’t. 

“We start when the light turns green,” she replied instead, eyes never leaving the red beacon as she secured her helmet on tightly.

Tadashi copied her movement, but not before smiling eagerly at her answer. His hands were already quivering in excitement, and he had to take a deep breath, hold it, then let it out to subdue his nerves. 

From watching her race, Tadashi knew she was fast. _Real fast_. And he wouldn’t admit it to the yellow biker, but he’s been itching to compete against her since he first saw her on the track. She looked like someone who can put up a good race. After all, it was no fun to beat someone from the beginning. 

Seconds ticked by; then, red blinked to green. Two engines roared as they accelerated off the mark. Though his pace was less hasty than to that of the usual touge racing, Tadashi could still feel the same pressure of speed within his chest; it didn’t take long for him to start passing the other racer, the pump of adrenaline building to the max in his veins.

 _Can you keep up?_ The black motorbike revved almost scornfully.

Bristling, she leaned forward as low as she could go to reduce the air friction whipping against her. She stepped on the gas, spiking her bike ahead of its counterpart and effectively disrupting the atmosphere. The Korean could feel sweat dripping down her cheek as her heart pounded faster and faster. She could not deny how exhilarating this was, racing—

Suddenly, a hellacious snarl roared behind her, making her involuntarily jump as her opponent tore off passed her at speeds that were not only illegal but on the border of being lethal to the driver. Tadashi, however, couldn’t help but let out a maniacal laugh from the sheer adrenaline surging through him.

 _She’s catching up_ , he observed through his excitement. Indeed, the yellow biker was edging up slowly but surely, now half-mast from taking the lead. At this rate, there was no way they could stop without possibly being thrown off their bikes. Nearing the end of the finish line, a blur of black and then yellow zoomed through the lit neon gate, and the few unfortunate pedestrians who were in the bikers’ path screamed and shouted profanity their way.

Tadashi whooped with joy, barely catching himself from hurtling face-first into a cross signal.

“ _Slow down_! You already won!”

He could feel his cheek muscles starting to strain when he heard her scathing comment. He chose to ignore the biting tone. “Okay, okay. Good race by the—”

Suddenly, sirens went full blast behind them as a cop car gave chase. The black biker cursed; of all the things that could’ve happened, a speed chase was not on his list. Tadashi had to think fast.

“ _Hey_!” And the Korean turned to see the other biker unexpectedly next to her and shouting over the noise. “ _Can you drift_?”

There was a slight hesitation on her part before she nodded, and that was all the confirmation he needed. Tadashi spun his tires, reversing out of the flow of traffic, nearly hitting an incoming car as he did a ninety degree turn and took off down another street to his left. She copied his turn, tires squealing loudly as the bike lost traction, the rear end zipping sideways. 

_What?_ Tadashi saw from his peripheral. Her turn was shaky, skidding more than necessary. _Are her brakes not working?_ He didn’t have time to ponder more about it as they veered through an intersection, ignoring the red light and earning many honks as tires screeched to a stop. It hadn’t taken long for the police car to get caught in traffic, and thus lost the black and yellow motorbikes.

“Are you fucking crazy?!” the Korean screamed once they merged back on to another lane. The bikes zipped between the traffic in a terrifying speed. 

“I’m guessing this is your first speed chase?”

Tadashi made another sharp turn and tore down an alleyway and she followed, sometimes jostled by the poorly placed garbage bags, but otherwise managing to keep up.  


“You are _dead_ if this doesn’t kill us fir—”

Abruptly, bright headlights beamed in front of their path, forcing them to stop. They squinted at the blinding glare; after his eyes adjusted, Tadashi counted one, two, three police cars. Their strobe bars flashed red and blue; two officers exited their vehicles as the one blocking their path switched on the loudspeaker. “This is the police. We have you surrounded. Get off your vehicles and put your hands behind your head.”

Shit. Things just got a whole lot more complicated.

Tadashi glanced at the petite figure, who sat stock-still on her bike. She may be silent, but Tadashi could tell from her rigid posture that she was did not know how to get herself out of this situation. “Listen,” Tadashi said to her, low enough for the officers not to hear.

A click of the gun safety went off. “I said hands behind your head!” 

Tadashi slowly raised his hands to compensate.

“Follow my lead.” Almost instantly, Tadashi grabbed the handles and accelerated forward, wheeling the front tire in the air as the police officers ducked to miss to him jumped the hood of the blocking car. The Korean acted before her brain could catch up with her, relying on her reflexes more than anything. Once back on the road, she glanced quickly behind her and saw the three police cars gaining on them, _and fast_. 

“Got a plan?” 

“Working on it!”

Tadashi mentally whacked his brain to come up with some idea, any idea, to lose the cops. _Come on, Hamada. Look for a different angle._

The sound of large chattering and sizzling meat alerted him up ahead; it was an open market, adorned with Chinese lanterns strung up above each food stand; customers and merchants were mingling in small flocks at each station.

Tadashi’s eyes widened. “This way!”

The motorbikes sped through the open market, tires burning rubber, the police cars in hot pursuit. Tadashi ran his bike through a seafood stand with no care of the consequences. Large selfish smashed into the windshields and effectively cracking them.

It sent the leading car another way, and then the rest of the seafood hit in front of the other two cars, causing them to swerve and nearly crash into each other. One of the two spun out towards the open road and slammed into a fire hydrant, erupting water all over the area. The wailing sirens stuttered in the wake of the chaos as the two perpetrators inconspicuously slipped away.

They slowed down to a more legal speed once they entered a quaint-looking neighborhood. Only the quiet sounds of crickets and the drone of their engines could be heard. Other than that, the whole surrounding was asleep. They stopped on a road hill, shutting off their bikes and kicking the stands up. Tadashi felt giddy, the rush still coursing through his body. 

“It worked!” He threw his arms in the air. “I can’t believe that worked!”

Now that the adrenaline had worn off, the shorter teen felt burning anger. She removed her headgear, marching up to the other biker as he took off his, still blabbering with the audacity as if he didn’t just halted traffic for who knows how long. She poked him in the chest, making sure to put extra pressure on her mark. “What the _hell_ was that?? I did not agree to almost becoming asphalt!”

He laughed breathlessly. “Come on, _Kiiro_. It wasn’t _that_ bad.”

“ _What_ did you call me?”

She grabbed his shirt and hauled him down to her eye level. Tadashi nervously held up his hands in surrender. “Eh heh…it means yellow in Japanese, and you’re the only biker I know who has a yellow—”

The Korean forcefully pushed him back, not even bothering to watch the taller adolescent stumble over his feet. She let out a few curses in her native tongue in frustration over the whole situation, mostly at her loss over the self-declared hotshot. She never said she handled defeat well.

After a minute of her sprouting in rapid Korean, by then Tadashi was glad he didn’t understand the language, the girl took a deep breath and sighed in exasperation.

“Well?”

Tadashi gave her a questioning look. She huffed in irritation.

“You won. Aren’t you going to ask me what my name is?”

Tadashi contemplated for a bit before shaking his head in refusal, his solemn expression tempered by a gentle smile. “No, I understand why you wouldn’t want an illegal street racer finding out your name.” 

At that moment, she hated that considerate look on his face. She even resented the way he shrugged in a completely relaxed manner, like how two friends would act around each other. “Besides, I rather call you _Kiiro_.”

The corner of her mouth twitched, but she wasn’t sure if her lips were trying to smile or grimace. She couldn’t help but wonder what gave her away. There was something about the taller adolescent’s face, some flicker of empathy there which told her he knew the dangers lurking in the unsightly parts of San Fransokyo. That he knew she didn’t want the yakuza catching not even the slightest of interest in her and targeting the people she cared about. 

“Then why did you made that bet in the first place?”

“Oh, so you’ll put up more of a challenge.”

Her eye twitched. “And _Kiiro_? Why not just ‘Yellow’?”

He didn’t miss a beat. “It sounds cooler in Japanese.”

She snorted and mumbled, “Idiot,” under her breath. Seriously, underneath that damn racer ego and reckless driving, this speed demon was nice. Just an honest-to-good nice person with a family who loves him and whom he loves back she presumed. Why is this selfless bastard even involved in illegal street racing?

“So…no hard feelings?” Tadashi’s voice brought her out of her reverie, to find him scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

“Oh no, I’m still pissed off at you.” She punched him in his shoulder–“Oww! That hurts, you know!”–before heading towards her bike, getting on and revving the engine to life. Tadashi rubbed his shoulder that most likely was going to bruise as he watched the petite figure put on her helmet.

“Hey,” she said, catching Tadashi’s attention. “You owe me a month’s worth of gum and another race, _Geomjeong_.”

With that last remark, she sped off down the suburban hill, leaving a confused black haired teen behind. “Geh, ge…om... _wha_?”

**Author's Note:**

> Kiiro = Yellow in Japanese  
> Geomjeong = Black in Korean
> 
> AU Headcanons: After the impromptu speed chase, local news stations the next morning reported that a new city-wide speed limit will now be enforced and police surveillance will double during the night. 
> 
> Right now, Tadashi has been a _hashiriya_ (Japanese word that means illegal street racer) for almost a year now, and having an unmarred winning streak is inflating his racer ego. He gets overconfident at times, which will later on bite him in the butt once the yakuza catches whiff of him. Remember, Tadashi is still in his mid-teens, so of course he’s going through his “rebel” stage. He hasn’t fully matured yet in terms of how his actions can have consequences to not only himself but also to others. 
> 
> Tadashi and Gogo haven’t met Fred yet since they are still in high school, thus Fred not giving Gogo the nickname “Gogo.” It would’ve felt weird if I used “Gogo” when she’s not called “Gogo” yet.
> 
> The two had earlier run-ins with each other, often enough for them to consider each other as close acquaintances at the very least before their race. Afterwards, they’ll continue “bumping into each other”, and over the course will develop the ultimate BROTP relationship! (Gogo still has a grudge that Tadashi beat her speed record though).
> 
> Tadashi and Gogo call each other by the given nicknames they gave one another, _Geomjeong_ and _Kiiro_ respectively. It wasn’t until Tadashi decided to quit his illegal street racing did they told each other their real names and dropped the nicknames.
> 
> Tadashi is not the most creative when it comes to nicknames. Gogo calls him _Geomjeong_ more as a cocky reminder that _Kiiro_ is a ridiculous nickname.


End file.
